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Moses, known as Moshe by his own people (the Israelites, who speak Hebrew) and Musa in Arabic, was a follower of the Abrahamic God. He challenged the House of Life in ancient times and was the only foreign magician to ever defeat the House of Life.

Contents

History

Moses was born to Israelite slaves in Egypt. He was sent down the Nile by his mother and found and taken in by the Pharaoh's daughter. He grew up in the Pharaoh's court with the Pharaoh's heir until he learned of his true heritage, accidentally killed an Egyptian, and ran away. He later returned to challenge the House of Life and the Egyptian gods with the power of the God of Israel.

The Ten Plagues

Moses appeared before the Pharaoh and told him that his God commanded that he liberate the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. He showed them the power of God and turned his staff into a snake, which also mocked the goddess Wadjet. The Pharaoh's magicians turned their own staffs into snakes, which were quickly devoured by the one summoned by Moses, and while Moses was victorious, Pharaoh still refused his commands.
After the Pharaoh refused to let the Israelite slaves go, Moses unleashed the infamous Plagues of Egypt, wielding God's power and taunting the Egyptian Gods.

The Plagues are as follows:

Water into Blood: Moses had his brother Aaron dip his staff into the Nile, turning it to blood and killing the fish, leaving a stench all through Egypt. The Pharaoh's magicians demonstrated that they could also turn the water to blood, so the Pharaoh did not heed Moses's demands. This plague was probably meant to mock the gods of the Nile, Sobek and Hapi.

Frogs: Aaron rose his staff over the water and summoned hordes of frogs from the Nile to overrun Egypt. This is specifically mocking Heket, the frog goddess, and Hapi, a personification of the flooding of the Nile and its fertile silt, and smaller 'invasions' of frogs would come right after the flooding.

Lice: Aaron strikes the dust with his staff and it became lice all throughout Egypt, covering the animals and people. Sources and interpretation differ whether it was lice, gnats, or fleas that were brought forth.

Flies: flies were sent against the people and animals of Egypt, but not the Israelites that lived there. This plague is a "swarm" of "wild animals." mostly said to be flies.

Diseased Livestock: an epidemic wiped out the Egyptians' livestock, but left the Israelites' livestock unharmed. This plague mocks the Apis bull, who died with no one to replace him.

Boils: Moses and Aaron toss handfuls of soot into the air in the Pharaoh's presence and it became a fine dust that gave both the Egyptians and their livestock festering boils. The Egyptian magicians could not heal themselves or anyone else of this skin disease. This plague mocks Sekhmet and her control over diseases and pestilence, as well as Thoth, god of knowledge including medicine. Between the epidemics and the magicians having no knowledge on how to cure this, this one is a warning that Egypt has brought itself outside of the law of Ma'at, its greatest moral value.

Thunderstorm of Hail and Fire: Moses stretched his staff skyward and called down the worst storm in the history of Egypt. This is sent to mock the god of the storm, Set, who was a powerful and important figure to the Pharaohs (see category Mythology of Set) of that dynasty. Possibly, this is also a stab at Egypt's lack of a god of ice (see Felix).

Locusts: Moses stretched his staff over Egypt and a wind picked up from the east, the next day bringing with it a swarm of locusts larger than any Egypt had ever seen. Once considered good luck, locusts overran and ate all the vegetation that was left after the storm, and by being brought by the wind this plague entered the dominion of one of the most important gods, Amon.

Darkness: Moses stretched his hands over Egypt and spread a darkness over Egypt for three days that was so heavy that it could be felt. This plague was directly aimed at Ra, the sun god, as well as Horus, the sky god, the most important gods to the Pharaoh.

Death of Firstborn: all of the people's and animals' firstborn children died overnight, and a great wailing could be heard throughout all of Egypt, such as never been heard nor ever will again. The Tenth Plague is linked to a specific Egyptian myth, the Eye of Ra. In that myth, the men had disrespected Ra and planned to rebel and kill him, so he sent his Eye (identified with either the war goddess Sekhmet, Bast who protected children, or the gentle Hathor, Depending on the version) to punish them with a slaughter... And in one day she killed half of mankind, all the guilty and many innocents, and to stop her finishing the job the gods had to get her drunk. The message here is: "Let My people go, for if you continue to sin all of Egypt shall die in an heartbat". Even the Pharaoh's heir was not spared. After this, Pharaoh in despair at last let the Israelites go.

Journey to the Promised Land

Moses then led the Israelites from Egypt to the land that God had promised them, a land flowing with milk and honey. When they came to the Red Sea, Moses commanding the power of God parted the Sea and let the Israelites escape from Egypt. For forty years the Israelites wandered lost in the desert as God guided them, following a column of cloud by day and of fire by night. Often they survived by the grace of God, finding water and food miraculously. It was said that on a mountaintop, God gave Moses a set of ten laws inscribed on tablets of stone to govern His people from then on.

When walking through the Hall of Ages, Zia points out the memory of Moses. Zia says he is the only foreign magician to have ever beat the House of Life. Carter suggests she is kidding, but Zia says she would never kid about such matters.

While exploring the Nile looking for Zia, Bes tells Carter to part the river, a simple command. Carter tells him he doesn't know how, which causes Bes to put in perspective the feat of parting a river. He recalls the magician Djadjaemankh (though not by name) parting the river just to retrieve a girl's fallen necklace. Bes also mentions "that Israelite fellow," Moses, incorrectly calling him "Mickey", acknowledging his feat of parting the Red Sea.

Trivia

According to the old sources, God is the One who gave Moses his power. This is what followers of the Abrahamic religions also believe.

It could be said that Moses followed the Path of the Gods, since Moses wielded the power of God. It can also be deduced that God is more powerful than the Egyptian Gods.

Aaron, Moses's brother, also inflicted some of the plagues so he could be considered a magician as well.

Many of Moses's incredible feats can be reflected in Egyptian Magic. The Egyptian magicians can replicate the changing of the staff into a snake, the water to blood, and the summoning of frogs. However, they soon realized Moses wielded more power than they as they could not perform all the feats. The parting of a body of water, such as the Red Sea or the Nile, is also commonplace in Egyptian magic. The fire spell of the Pillar of Fire is also comparable to the column of fire that led the Israelites to the Promised Land.